I took the opportunity to question Howard Levy at length about his technique, in the process rescuing Howard from a very nice but clueless man in a brown suit whose questions were on the order of "Gosh, Mr. Levy, how did you ever come up with that amazing style?"; interesting in a sense, I suppose, especially to biographers, but not very useful to harp players who want to know how the style is played. I noticed immediately that Howard's technique involves moving the head, not the harp, an approach that I have argued against vehemently on Harp-L. My apologies to all who have suffered through my head-vs.-harp diatribes in the past; moving the head can't be all bad if Howard Levy can do it at such high speeds. (When I pointed his head movements out to Howard, he said (I think in jest) "Maybe I should start moving the harp instead," to which I replied "Don't f--- with it, man." If it ain't broke . . .)

I was impressed by Howard's ability to mix straight, overblown, and bent pitches in complex lines played at very high speeds, and we talked at length about 1) overblowing technique and 2) breathing technique. Howard advised me that half of overblowing is setting the harp up properly; in response to my question about whether he could reliably get all the overblown pitches on every harp, his answer was yes, mostly. (Meaning no, sometimes.) Regarding breathing, Howard compared playing fast lines on the harmonica to playing paradiddles on the drums, i.e. the trick is to make a single stroke (breath) play multiple notes. By analyzing breathing patterns, complex phrases break down into minimal sets of in and out breaths (as opposed to rapid panting). This discussion was very valuable to me.

Here comes the first controversial comment of this piece: I still hear big problems with the Levy approach, i.e. playing the diatonic harp chromatically, compared to playing chromatic material on the chromatic harp. Howard's lines, dazzling though they were, did not have a uniform tone and attack; it was often obvious when a note was played with a bend or an overblow. I had the same reaction a day later when I sat down with Chris Michalek and worked through "Blue Bossa" in 3rd position on a Bb diatonic. Chris was able to hit all the pitches on target (at least to my ears), but every bent pitch started with a slight "coughing" attack that made it obvious when the technique was being used. I couldn't help but feel that the excitement of being to able to get all the notes is leading the adherents of fully chromatic technique to ignore a lot of very basic stuff related to how the notes actually sound. Chris asked me at one point, "Why would you not want to have that stuff (overblowing) if it's available to you?" The answer is: because it doesn't sound that great to me, at least not in large doses

The performance by the "Bunch o' Guys" on Friday night underscored that feeling for me. Dennis Gruenling put together a set of swing blues arrangements for harmonica ensemble with piano trio, and a group that include Dennis, Alan Holmes, Chris Michalek, Joe Filisko, Richard Sleigh, and a rotating cast of players (most notably Rob Paparozzi) played the arrangements. The sound of the group was much improved over previous Bunch o' Guys performances, for a few reasons. In particular, a live piano trio (especially one as good as the one Connie Hassler hired for this show) is a better accompaniment than a MIDI track, which is what the Bunch used at SPAH in 1997 and 1998. Also, unlike previous performances, various players in the Bunch used amplification on their harps, which did a lot to make the sound bigger, fuller, and more interesting. Dennis Gruenling in particular deserves all the approving comments that have been made about his tone; he knows how to make an amped harp sound big, subtle, and full of soul. It was also a good decision to focus on swing blues, which was clearly comfortable for the players.

The improved sound of the band notwithstanding, problems with intonation resulting from use of bent and overblown notes in ensemble passages remained. The rhythm section also did not seem to react with much excitement to either the arrangements or the solos, though of course they played capably.

My reservations notwithstanding, I experienced overblow envy at BHF, and I bought some new harps to see whether I would enjoy using the technique more frequently. (I overblow on my Lee Oskars, but it's not easily done throughout the instrument's range.) I'm over it now.

Will Galison, the chromatic jazz harmonica player, took the stage after the Bunch o' Guys, and he lit the place up with some beautiful, fiery jazz. His burning "Take The A Train," in Ab with lots of great chord work, was particularly fine, to the point that his encore of "Wave" was anticlimactic. I don't want to lay this on too thick, but to me it was a strikingly clear example of the superiority of the chromatic harp for chromatic music. The rhythm section was clearly inspired by Will, and they were totally turned on by the time he left the stage, which was good for me, because I was on next

Connie Hassler had told me I could have as much time as I wanted for my set, and I chose 12 pieces, 4 of them solos. I ended up playing an encore, for a total of thirteen pieces. I purposely favored my own compositions, and I was really looking forward to playing solo pieces like "Big 17" and "The Longing" with a full band. I was not disappointed; I played well (though I'd had problems all day with an upper respiratory infection), the band played beautifully, and the sound system sounded great. By the time I finished the second piece ("The Longing", played with band after a solo "Billy the Kid"), I was enjoying myself thoroughly. Overall it was one of my favorite performances, and I thank the Buckeye State club and Connie for 1) getting such a great band, 2) giving me time to rehearse with them, and 3) inviting me to perform at BHF, not necessarily in that order. I can't wait to see the video and hear the tapes from that night.

After my set, I was pretty wiped out. I had a bourbon, hung out at the jazz session until about two AM, and hit the sack. In between, I had the opportunity to talk to Kirk Johnson and to hear him at the jazz jam. Kirk's sound is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard; in our conversation, I discovered that we share a love for Ben Webster, the tenor sax player whose huge, emotion-dripping sound drives some of Duke Ellington's greatest recordings (like, for example, the 1941 version of "Main Stem," where Webster takes the last solo in the piece and blows a hole right through the roof of the universe).

I played another short set on Saturday night, this one all solo, and it was well received, but Friday night was the show I enjoyed the most, and the one I will remember most happily. It's tough to go back to the solo stuff after you've had a band that good behind you

Backtracking to Thursday night, I had the opportunity to hear Annie Raines perform with Paul Rishell in a solid set of blues. Earlier that day I'd played a few tunes with Annie during the teaching session, most notably an enjoyable duet on "Angel From Montgomery." Her set with Rishell was solid, especially on the numbers featuring amplified harp, and her singing on one or two tunes was very enjoyable; I'd like to hear more of it. Annie's sound on the acoustic harp stuff is good, and what she really knows how to do is work the mic and the amp; sure sounded like the real thing to me. Rishell's guitar playing was excellent too.

Rob Paparozzi was not a featured player at this show; he did a lot of guest spots all over the place, and his jazz and blues singing seemed to be everywhere. His diatonic harp work in particular is riveting, with a big tone and some of the most fluid, driving lines of any player I know. When I say riveting, I mean that every time I heard him at BHF, I turned around and said "Who was that?"; he could not be ignored. Rob's work clearly derives from Butterfield, both in sound and style. This may be controversial too, and I don't know if Rob will agree, but I'll say it anyway: Paparozzi has surpassed Butterfield by far as a player, and is arguably a better singer too.

Larry Eisenberg's protege Colleen Conyers, now 8 years old, played a very short set Saturday night in which she sang and played a few blues, backed by Richard Sleigh and Larry on piano. The kid is eight and cute, hence inherently likable, and will undoubtedly attract all the media attention that goes with being a cute kid playing the blues. (Brody Buster, anyone?) That said, I was impressed by the progress she's made since 1998 SPAH, and she played a few lines that very capably traversed the harp from the high end to the low, with a clean, clear sound and strong rhythm. She's got some talent. Her playing at this point seems stronger than her singing; if she doesn't already have a vocal coach, it might be time to find one

I didn't catch all of Gary Primich's set. What I heard was very solid blues, played by a band that seemed spare and economical in its approach. There were times when I wished for another guitar or a piano to fill out the sound. Gary's chromatic work in particular did not sound like anyone else, with very melodic single note lines, played in keys other than the ubiquitous D minor. The show didn't have "killer" written all over it in ten foot high letters, the way Kim Wilson's awesome performance at 1998 SPAH did, but it was far more original and convincing than the work I heard from Mark Hummel at 1997 SPAH.

I was really not in great shape at this show, and I missed a lot of stuff, including the New World Harmonica Trio's first performance, the showcase performance by Sandy German's trio (though I caught their Saturday night set, which was enjoyable), a supposedly incredible duet at the jazz club featuring Charlie Leighton and Will Galison, and plenty of other great things. Ya can't be everywhere all the time, man, even at a harmonica festival.

I must note that I was surprised and delighted to hear Jimmy Gordon playing guitar at the blues jam on Saturday night. He played a slow blues with a deadly, crawlin-cross-the-floor-on-my-belly kinda feel. It sure was nice

This was a good show, and there was nevertheless something that felt oddly disconnected about it. Even more than at SPAH, it felt to me sometimes like there were really two Festivals going on: one for the diatonic (blues) players, and one for the old-school trio and chromatic players. The former camp is apparently in the ascendancy now; among other things, they have (relative) youth on their side.

I am still surprised that none of the major harmonica festivals are making a concerted effort to schedule performances by country-style players, even though they are some of the most professional and skilled in the world, playing in a genre that respects them, pays them relatively well, and showcases their talents on records that sell millions of copies. (When was the last time a blues record featuring harmonica sold that well?)

The level of skill displayed at this show in general is much higher than one would have expected from a crowd of harmonica players ten years ago. Things are moving, but most players seem to be very strongly tied to the instrument's traditional roots in vaudeville (on the one hand) and blues (on the other), radical breaks like Howard Levy's chromatic-diatonic approach, John Popper's speed-of-light soloing, Robert Bonfiglio's determined classical virtuosity and showmanship, and my work in non-standard diatonic tunings and impressionist compositions notwithstanding. There are at least half a dozen relatively young chromatic players now who can solo convincingly at length in an authentic jazz style (Hendrik Meurkens, Will Galison, Randy Weinstein, Mike Turk, Clint Hoover, etc.), where 30 years ago there was only Toots, yet "jazz harp" remains a rarity; plenty of major cities don't have a single accomplished jazz harp player, and you can't say that about saxophone. It remains to be seen where the new roots growing now will take us, and whether any of the new directions will succeed in igniting the interest of the public and creating a strong commercial demand for new harmonica music (and a solid livelihood for harmonica players).